If you had to describe yourself in one word, what words wouldn't you use? 

Agile, Swift, Psychic, Slender

Think back to when you were in school. What was your favourite subject? 

Physics

When you were a young 'un, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A scientist

What does Tevun-Krus mean to you?

A science-fiction ezine that's for everyone!

Tell us about your reading/writing habits. If you're not a writer, then simply the former will suffice!

I write in my free time, usually on weekends and evenings. I started with writing flash-fiction and short stories, a result of not having a lot of time or energy in grad school. Now that I've graduated, I'm hoping to use Wattpad to break into longer works. Currently I'm writing a novella, 'A Soulless Destiny', also my very first one! If I want to take a break from the novella, I go back to writing flash fiction and short stories, especially when a new fun prompt shows up. I've also contributed to the online sci-fi flash journal, 365 tomorrows. I think I have close to 20 entries on there already, can't remember the exact number though. As for my reading habits, can't say I really have one. If a book tickles my fancy, I pick it up and read. I'm currently reading 'The Man in the High Castle' by PKD. 

As your crew casts your lifeless body into the heart of the nearest star, list three pieces of music likely to be rattling the bulkheads of your beloved vessel!

Tricky question, my taste in music wavers constantly. I think one of them might be '1000 words' from Final Fantasy X2. I first heard that song more than a decade ago and I still remember it. Then there's Jiyuu no Tsubasa, or Wings of Liberty, the second opening for the Attack on Titan anime. Not my favorite opening but I think it's a good epic send-off soundtrack. Oh, and if we're going the rock route, then My Demons by Starset would be my choice. Probably not the best song to play on a send-off from a spaceship (listen to the first line), but it just sounds so epic!

https://youtu.be/QuqMbCCUclQ

Who is your all-time favourite author? How much, if at all, has their work influenced your writing style?

If I'm allowed more than one, then I'll say Isaac Asimov and Ken Liu. I encountered Asimov back in my undergraduate days, when a professor lent me his copy of the Foundation to read. I instantly became hooked by his beyond-epic world building and the genius of psychohistory. I remember being disappointed in the Mule because he disrupted a perfectly good system, though the professor argued that it lends to the drama. Anyway, I think why I preferred him to some of the other classic authors was the accessibility of his work. I could understand what he was saying. I remember having a hard time wrapping my head around Clarke's works, and PKD as well to a certain extent. Asimov just writes in a very easy-to-understand style. It kinda inspired me to try to write in as accessible a fashion as possible, writing hard sci-fi in a way that everyone can enjoy. I also enjoy Asimov's storytelling over a long passage of time, stretching for tens and thousands of years sometimes. I have employed such massive time spans in some of my stories as well, sometimes using time jumps, sometimes just treating a thousand years as a mere second. The latter format works great in flash fiction, IMO. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention Ken Liu. He's lesser known than Asimov, but one might know him as the person who translated 'The Three-Body Problem' by Cixin Liu, and the author of 'Good Hunting' which was featured on the Netflix anthology "Love, Death & Robots". I found his short-story anthology, 'The Paper Menagerie', when I was trying to make my way around as an international student in the US. Growing up in the East-meets-West land of Singapore, I've always found myself leaning towards the Western end of things; Western culture, Western food, Western ideology. Ken Liu, as an Asian-American writer, writes about the struggles of being an immigrant in America and the troubled history of the Chinese (and sometimes Japanese) in the twentieth century, all through a sci-fi and fantasy context. I picked up his book because it's sci-fi/fantasy, and I hold it dear in my heart because it reminded me of my East-Asian identity. There were other factors of course, but after reading his book, I was inspired to include Eastern cultures and characters in my stories. Many of my MCs are of East-Asian descent, and I fuse Eastern beliefs into my works. In my novella 'A Soulless Destiny', I deal with the concept of reincarnation as a legitimate science, and I also toy with this idea in my flash-fiction piece 'Terms and Conditions'. I also have a little bit of Lovecraft in my writing, but that's more on the cosmic horror side and far less direct. I've already blathered a lot here so I won't go into it right now.

Of everything you've written, which piece is your favourite?

Tough call, but I think I'll go with the short story: 'Flight of the Hiryu'.

Pitch the above story to us. Make us really want to read it!

In this story, the MC escapes a war in a stolen battlestar, the Hiryu (named after a Japanese aircraft carrier in WW2). He encounters three different alien species in his search for peace, only to find that peace is very hard to find! In this story, I play around with alien descriptions and concepts. They have different appearances, different methods of communication, live in very different settings, and have different ways of waging war on each other. Some of the alien descriptions were inspired by D&D, some from previous scifi I've read. If exploring alien concepts are your thing, then this is the story for you!

To what extent does the mythical 'real life' influence your writing?

Quite significantly actually. My MCs reflect a lot of my struggles to fit into this world, and they share a lot of my flaws. I wouldn't say my work is 'counter-culture', but I do deviate from the 'genius scientist' that appears so often in sci-fi. If my MC is a scientist, they will more than likely have issues with their work and their mental state will reflect what I have seen in myself and a lot of my peers in grad school. Anxiety, fear of failure, imposter syndrome, and sometimes even fear of success, among others. I think this much better reflects the current state of academia rather than the brilliant guy who solves everything in a couple of tries. It's not a happy state, but I think it's important to raise awareness of such issues. Fiction might just be a great way to get people to reflect and understand them better, just as how Ken Liu has reached out to me through his works.

If you could have any superpower, what would that be and why?

Teleportation. I miss my friends in the US and I would like to be able to visit them as conveniently as possible! Besides, it might be a safer way to travel in these COVID times.

What would you do if you woke up one day and suddenly realized you were an alien from another world?

TBH, I might just keep it quiet and keep pretending to be human. I might be curious and try to find out more about my world of origin, but Earth is my home!

The Technological Singularity presents a rather daunting, some say inevitable, future. Does the prospect of that level of artificial intelligence excite you, or leave you quaking in your space boots?

I think it's rather exciting. Imagine having a robot friend! Sure, there may be rogue AIs that turn evil and aspire to cause great harm, but there should also be good AIs that strive to stop them from achieving their nefarious goals. My biggest concern is the human race though. Would we be open-hearted enough to give these good AIs the same rights as us? If not, they may be less willing to protect us from harm.

Who was your first Sci-Fi crush? Who is your current one?

I'm gonna have to go N/A on this one. Sorry!

If you could experience the world of any Sci-Fi story on Wattpad, which would that be and why?

There's so much dystopia in Sci-Fi nowadays I can't really think of a world that I would feel comfortable in! If I had to choose I would say it's the world in the short story 'Dark Cloud' by CiJames. I remember it leaving an impression on me because of the idea that the weather could become a political issue (o wait... ). There was also the use of actual robots to influence political opinion, just like the twitter bots we have today. I thought it highlighted the metaphor power of sci-fi very well. I would only want to experience it, not live in it though.

And finally, any words of wisdom to new and aspiring Sci-Fi writers?

Keep trying new things! Take the plunge! Find a way to break into writing which works for you. If you have little time and energy, flash-fic is a good place to start! If you need a springboard for inspiration, do fan-fic! Heck, do flash-fan-fic! You may want to read samples (365tomorrows and Daily Science Fiction are my personal recommendations for flash-fic), but don't worry about getting to the perfect level of mastery before you start writing. As you write more and read more, you will grow as a writer. Remember, even master writers produce duds (just read Asimov's attempts at fantasy). And most of all, write because it is fun, write because it sparks joy. You may not like to hear this, but be wary about thinking of writing as a career. Grad school has taught me many things, and one of the more unfortunate ones is that pursuing anything as a career is a great way to kill it as a passion. You may not get a lot of reads, you may not get a lot of likes, there'll always be people who disagree with your work. Don't let that get you down. If writing is something you enjoy and it adds fulfilment to your life, then keep doing it. That's not to say that you shouldn't think about becoming a career writer, just that you shouldn't let this goal become your master. I myself hope to have something in bookstores one day, but if that never happens, I know there are still many ways I can live a meaningful life. Good luck, all the best, go inspire the world through your imagination!

Thanks for the interview!